Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you awesome songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, the sensational Ed Sheeran sings about how his struggling grandfather made a wedding ring from dental gold in his 2017 hit, “Nancy Mulligan.”

The song details the wartime love story of his grandparents and how their relationship flourished despite religious differences and the objections of their families.

With the scene set during the Second World War, Sheeran recounts in his grandpa William Sheeran’s voice how he fell in love with Nancy Mulligan at London’s Guy’s hospital. He was a struggling dentist and she was a nurse.

Sheeran sings, “On the summer day when I proposed, I made that wedding ring from dentist gold / And I asked her father but her daddy said no / You can’t marry my daughter.”

“One was a Protestant from Belfast and [the other] was a Catholic from southern Ireland,” Sheeran explained on the Beats 1 radio show. “They got engaged and no one turned up to the wedding.”

Sheeran, 26, noted that his grandparents were so poor that they had to borrow clothes for their wedding and that the gold for his grandmother’s wedding ring came from a collection of gold teeth his grandfather had collected during dental surgeries.

(Note: While gold used in jewelry is generally 14-karat or 18-karat and alloyed with copper, silver and zinc, dental gold is usually a 16-karat alloy containing palladium, silver, copper and/or tin.)

“[They] had this sort of Romeo and Juliet romance, which is like the most romantic thing. I thought I’d write a song about it and make it a jig,” said Sheeran.

The couple was married for more than 60 years and had a profound impact on their grandson’s life. William passed away in 2013, but Nancy remains a big fan of her internationally famous grandson.

“Nancy Mulligan” is part of the Deluxe Edition of Ed Sheeran’s third studio album ÷ (pronounced Divide), and despite the fact that it wasn’t officially released as a single, the song still managed to chart in 17 countries. Divide made its debut at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. On the day of its release, the tracks from Divide achieved 56.73 million streams on Spotify.

Please check out the official audio track of Sheeran’s “Nancy Mulligan,” which has been viewed 32.3 million times. The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along.

I was 24 years old when I met the woman I would call my ownTwenty two grand kids now growing old, in the house that your brother brought yaOn the summer day when I proposed, I made that wedding ring from dentist goldAnd I asked her father but her daddy said noYou can’t marry my daughter

She and I went on the runDon’t care about religionI’m gonna marry the woman I loveDown by the Wexford borderShe was Nancy Mulligan, and I was William SheeranShe took my name and then we were oneDown by the Wexford border

Well I met at her Guys in the second world warShe was working on a soldier’s wardNever had I seen such beauty beforeThe moment that I saw herNancy was my yellow roseAnd we got married wearing borrowed clothesWe got eight children now growing oldFive sons and three daughters

She and I went on the runDon’t care about religionI’m gonna marry the woman I loveDown by the Wexford borderShe was Nancy Mulligan, and I was William SheeranShe took my name and then we were oneDown by the Wexford border

From her snow white streak in her jet black hairOver 60 years I’ve been loving herNow we’re sat by the fire, in our old armchairsYou know Nancy I adore ya

From a farm boy born near Belfast townI never worried about the king and crownCause I found my heart upon the southern groundThere’s no difference, I assure ya

She and I went on the runDon’t care about religionI’m gonna marry the woman I loveDown by the Wexford borderShe was Nancy Mulligan, and I was William SheeranShe took my name and then we were oneDown by the Wexford border

Please note that the embedded video below is delivered via an iFrame from YouTube